The first night of screenings downtown at Ithaca's local, independent theater, Cinemapolis, kicked off yesterday on Thursday, April 3rd.

Guests lined up out the door to buy tickets to A Will for the Woods with filmmakers Amy Browne, Tony Hale, and Brian Wilson, Cartoneros with filmmaker Ernesto Livon-Grosman, A Touch of Sin, The Great Flood, The Rocket, The Questioning, and What's For Dinner?

After guests exchanged greetings in the crowded lobby and purchased tickets and popcorn, they filed into the theaters and awaited the 7:00 PM screenings.

I saw A Will for the Woods, a documentary about green burial, the practice of burying the deceased in ecologically friendly cemeteries that don't necessitate the clearing of land. The film follows Clark Wang, a physician living in North Carolina, as he nears the end of his life after fighting an uphill battle against lymphoma. Though I won't reveal too much more about the film, I will admit that nearly the entire theater was teary-eyed and muffling sobs.

The film features a green cemetery, the Greensprings Natural Cemetery, right here in Newfield, NY. Cemetery owner Joel Rabinowitz attended the screening and even gave the audience some background on Greensprings and the practice of natural burial.

After the screening, the filmmakers entertained a lively half hour-long post-screening Q&A discussion, moderated by Dr. Thomas Shevory. All young filmmakers from Brooklyn who got involved with the film out of pure interest in the subject matter, rather than because of a film background, Browne, Hale, and Wilson were clearly very energetic and excited to be at FLEFF.

After a lot of popcorn, a lot of films, and a lot of rich conversation surrounding the films, the first night of Cinemapolis screenings has come to end. There's so much more to look forward to in the next 3 days!

1 Comment

11:12 p.m. on April 9, 2014Elma said,

I don't think there was anyone in the A Will for the Woods screening without teary eyes. It was an incredibly emotional film. I saw it Saturday at noon, and because the discussion seemed shorter than anyone wanted it to be, we continued at the lobby. The filmmakers were approachable and clearly — as you mention — very excited to be a guest at FLEFF.